96th pct · 96th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
Home value, one year
+0.6%
as of August 2026
25th pct · 2,275th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
Typical rent
$2,387
as of August 2026
92nd pct · 100th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
Jobs
168,782
as of 2026 Q1-01
93rd pct · 197th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
Average weekly wage
$1,791
as of 2026 Q1-01
97th pct · 93rd of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
Years of wages per home
6.8
86th pct · 405th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
Typical home value divided by the average annual wage of one covered job.
A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank: the smallest published value in the cohort is 0 and the largest is 100, and tied values share the average of the ranks they span. It is not the share of entities below the value, so 0 means smallest, not none below. Entities that did not publish the metric are outside the cohort entirely and are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
Typical home $632,563 (Aug 2026), +0.6% over one year, +16.4% over five
96th pct · 96th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Item
Value
Distance
Howard County
$632,563 · +0.6% 1-yr
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Principal and interest of $3,462 a month on $632,563 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $7,761 a month: 44.6% of one job’s pay.
payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $632,563 × 80% = $506,050, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $3,462/mo principal and interest
wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,791 × 52 / 12 = $7,761) = 45% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
years of wages = $632,563 / ($1,791 × 52) = 6.8
price-to-rent = $632,563 / ($2,387 × 12) = 22.1
The wage is one covered job’s average, not a household’s income, so this is the share of a single paycheque and not a mortgage underwriting ratio.
Estimate. Principal and interest on the typical home with 20% down over 30 years at this week's Freddie Mac average rate; compared with the average weekly wage of all jobs covered by unemployment insurance in the area (BLS QCEW), which is pay per job, not household income.
168,782 jobs at 11,704 employers (2026 Q1); -2.0% jobs and +1.9% average weekly wage over the year
93rd pct · 197th of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
Item
Value
Distance
Howard County
168,782 jobs · $1,791/wk · -2.0% YoY
BLS QCEW, all ownerships, third month of the quarter. A location quotient of 1.00 means this county has the national share of its jobs in that sector; 2.00 means twice it. A withheld row is a BLS disclosure code N: the cell is absent, not zero.
NAICS sector
Jobs
Avg weekly wage
Location quotient
Jobs over the year
Professional and technical services
31,672
$2,812
2.72
-5.2%
Health care and social assistance
19,149
$1,242
0.75
+1.6%
Retail trade
14,924
$913
0.91
-3.6%
Wholesale trade
13,572
$2,203
2.10
+2.4%
Accommodation and food services
12,586
$564
0.83
+0.2%
Administrative and waste services
10,984
$1,381
1.14
-2.1%
Construction
10,552
$2,012
1.19
-3.8%
Finance and insurance
5,715
$3,065
0.83
+0.1%
Transportation and warehousing
4,570
$1,206
0.64
+0.0%
Other services
4,487
$1,131
0.89
-3.0%
Educational services
3,233
$1,126
0.89
+2.9%
Arts, entertainment and recreation
3,176
$713
1.14
+4.6%
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
$9.5 bn in deposits at 54 offices of 17 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,229, moderately concentrated. $8.5 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (contracts $4.7 bn, direct payments $3.8 bn), $50,615 per covered job
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
Item
Value
Distance
Bank of America, National Association
$2.4 bn · 25.3% share · 8 offices
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company
$1.1 bn · 11.6% share · 7 offices
Atlantic Union Bank
$1.0 bn · 10.6% share · 4 offices
Howard, MD
$8.5 bn FY2026 · $50,615/job
MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS
$3.7 bn · top recipient FY2026
FDIC Summary of Deposits, June 2026. These are institution offices, not people: the row is a bank's presence in the county.
Institution
Deposits
Share
Offices
Bank of America, National Association
$2,389,267,000
25.3%
8
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company
$1,098,785,000
11.6%
7
Atlantic Union Bank
$1,002,576,000
10.6%
4
PNC Bank, National Association
$947,109,000
10.0%
6
Fulton Bank, National Association
$727,434,000
7.7%
4
Wells Fargo Bank, National Association
$724,812,000
7.7%
3
Truist Bank
$722,992,000
7.7%
5
Capital One, National Association
$521,816,000
5.5%
2
First National Bank of Pennsylvania
$347,138,000
3.7%
2
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association
$325,873,000
3.4%
6
Deposit concentration is 1,229 across 17 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 17 banks with deposits in the county = 25.3² + 11.6² + 10.6² + … (14 more) = 1,229
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
USAspending place-of-performance obligations for FY2026, by awarding agency.
USAspending, FY2026, place of performance in this county.
Awarding agency
Obligations
Department of Health and Human Services
$2,238,171,703
Department of Defense
$1,719,977,701
Social Security Administration
$1,386,227,821
Department of Transportation
$1,329,931,760
Department of Homeland Security
$743,018,503
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
$521,691,425
Department of Veterans Affairs
$394,013,704
Department of Justice
$57,648,699
Department of Commerce
$34,268,611
Department of Housing and Urban Development
$26,440,627
Department of State
$21,284,577
Department of Education
$19,659,522
That is $50,615 per covered job, against 168,782 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $8.5 bn / 168,782 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $50,615
USAspending obligations are recorded where the work is performed, so a prime award performed here is counted here even when the recipient is headquartered elsewhere. Recipients are legal entities, never people.
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
The national indicator set, unfiltered by place.
Series
Latest
As of
Change
Mississippi River at Memphis, stage · ft
not published
not published
Mississippi River at St. Louis, stage · ft
not published
not published
Ohio River at Louisville, stage · ft
16.50
2026-09-30
-11.7%
Missouri River at St. Joseph, stage · ft
not published
not published
Colorado River below Hoover Dam, flow (Hoover releases) · ft³/s
5,170.00
2026-02-05
-25.3%
Texas reservoirs, statewide percent full · %
71.30
2026-10-01
+0.1%
Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks
258,700.00
2026-08-01
-0.4%
Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual · TEU
10,513,167.00
2023-01-01
-13.5%
Containerships waiting for a berth, all US ports · ships
6.00
2026-09-22
-14.3%
Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box
6,830.00
2026-08-01
+7.4%
US diesel retail price · $ per gallon
unavailable
not published
WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel
96.16
2026-09-29
-3.2%
30-year fixed mortgage rate · %
7.28
2026-10-01
+3.6%
Housing starts, annual rate · thousands of units
1,275.00
2026-08-01
-2.6%
Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units
1,403.00
2026-08-01
-2.1%
Case-Shiller US home price index · index, Jan 2000 = 100
337.31
2026-07-01
+0.1%
Unemployment rate · %
4.10
2026-08-01
+0.0%
US goods and services trade balance, monthly · $ millions
-88,576.00
2026-07-01
-24.4%
Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions
646,347.00
2026-08-01
+1.1%
The indicator registry has no county-keyed series and no geographic selection: every entry is national, a named gauge, a single state or a port. They are here as the backdrop the county's own numbers move against, and they are never this county's readings.
FIPS 24027, MD: 10 findings, 1 at a watch level and 9 noted
watchFIPS 24027, MD's covered employment is -2.0% against a year earlier, a watch level here: covered employment below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026 Q1.
Show the arithmetic
test: jobs.yoy.emp = -2 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteFIPS 24027, MD's covered employment was 2.0% lower than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.
Show the arithmetic
-2 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteFIPS 24027, MD's average weekly wage was 1.9% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.
Show the arithmetic
+1.9 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteFIPS 24027, MD's average weekly wage of $1,791 ranks 93rd of 3,221 US counties, against a median of $1,039.
Period 2026 Q1.
Show the arithmetic
97 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3221 US counties that published jobs.avgWeeklyWage
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteFIPS 24027, MD's typical home value of $632,563 ranks 96th of 3,063 US counties, against a median of $234,566.
Period 2026-08.
Show the arithmetic
97 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3063 US counties that published home.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level